 reviewed by John Smythe 26 Jul 2012 |
|
Original, innovative, homegrown creativity Dave Armstrong’s intriguing tale of intergenerational conflict, discovery and loss plays out on a street with a lot of history. But young Jake (Robin Kerr) sees it as a skateboard zone at best and a dirty slum at worst, ripe for tagging. As for the trees, he’s heard all that stuff at school about how important they are but he thinks they’re boring. [more] |
 reviewed by John Smythe 6 Aug 2012 |
|
Ingeniously dramatised and staged It is remarkable that this play, which sits happily amid the ‘best of British’ fare we’ve come to expect within Circa seasons, is enjoying its world premiere in Wellington, having been adapted from UK writer/artist Barbara Tate’s memoir by local playwright Ken Duncum. Twenty-two years after she had worked, aged 21, as a Soho prostitute’s maid Tate completed a 160,000-word account of her experiences and observations, but shelved it when a family member objected, presumably fearing it would bring shame on them. [more] |
 reviewed by John Smythe 15 Aug 2012 |
|
The fertility of imagination Reading the publicity material for Skellig – “Michael discovers a dying tramp in the garden shed, and becomes determined to save him. But when Michael discovers wings beneath the tramp’s tatty clothes, the real journey begins…” – reminded me of the 1961 film Whistle Down The Wind (starring Hayley Mills, adapted from the novel by her mother, Mary Hayley Bell, and since recreated as a stage musical). [more] |
 reviewed by John Smythe 18 Aug 2012 |
|
Strong sense of ensemble commitment carries the evening So a youthful group of performers play Wellington street people who in turn play out the story being told by one of their number. And there is no attempt to cast us in the role of other street people gathered, for example, in an urban park or mall. We are who we are, witnessing the presentation from our position of privilege. [more] |
 reviewed by John Smythe 24 Aug 2012 |
|
Dramatised with skill and subtle precision Tim Carlsen is an actor who so completely inhabits his roles, you have to see him in more than one to realise how very talented he is. I had seen ‘Moko’ born in his Toi Whakaari 20-minute Go Solo 2009 piece, entitled One Man And His Dog, and last year saw his skill confirmed, as Firpo especially, in the ATC ensemble production of The End of the Golden Weather. [more] |
 reviewed by John Smythe 29 Aug 2012 |
|
Gears not meshing to tragi-comic effect McGibbon is adept at raising questions we want answered and throwing sudden twists into the plot. Amid all the coping mechanisms there are insightful moments of truth and on occasion raw emotion erupts. By and large the cast handles these moments well: everyone achieves at least one moment of powerful drama. And overall the script offers fertile ground for a perceptive play about how people and their relationships are affected by tragedy. [more] |
 reviewed by John Smythe 3 Sep 2012 |
|
A richly textured modern classic Grief, guilt and anger is a potent cocktail and because it shocks us with its insights, truth and humanity, it produces bursts of comedy too. I rarely resort to ‘tour de force’ to describe a performance but here, how better to describe Te Kohe Tuhaka’s compulsive (for him) and compelling (for us) tour of duty through the tormented mind of Michael James Manaia. Having seen it during this year’s NZ International Arts Festival, the first thing to note about the brief fund-raising return to Downstage of this Taku Rua production, directed by Nathaniel Lees – en route to Auckland, Whangarei, New Plymouth and Melbourne – is that it is 25 minutes shorter, plays without an interval and is even better for it. [more] |
 reviewed by John Smythe 8 Sep 2012 |
|
A wonderfully rewarding sharing of experience So this is Stuart distilling and scripting Miranda’s quest to tell Kate’s story from her earliest memory until around the time Miranda left home; when the daughter’s ‘finding herself’ in Australia echoed her mother’s young adult adventures in Britain, where she’d gone by boat to learn singing. [more] |
 reviewed by John Smythe 10 Sep 2012 |
|
Exposing hypocrisy deliciously Thanks largely to the Steppenwolf Theatre of Chicago, with which Bruce Norris is associated as an actor and playwright, he saw seven of his plays produced over 14 years before going on to hit the jackpot with Clybourne Park. More often than not, that’s what it takes to grow excellent playwrights. Director Ross Jolly scored the rights to it after it won the Olivier, Critics’ Circle and Evening Standard Best Play awards in 2010 and before it won a Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 2011 and Tony Award for Best Play this year. [more] |
 reviewed by John Smythe 16 Sep 2012 |
|
Challenges us all with its perception, guts and powerful heart In immediate terms it’s a hugely funny yet powerful play about two young men thrown together in a prison cell, and their hot young legal aid lawyer’s attempts to see them justly served. Or not. What it’s really about, however, is our punitive justice system, how divided loyalties can corrupt ideals and how lethal a heart without a head engaged can be. [more] |
| << Prev | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 | 39 | 40 | 41 | 42 | 43 | 44 | 45 | 46 | 47 | 48 | 49 | 50 | 51 | 52 | 53 | 54 | 55 | 56 | 57 | 58 | 59 | 60 | 61 | 62 | 63 | 64 | 65 | 66 | 67 | 68 | 69 | 70 | 71 | 72 | 73 | 74 | 75 | 76 | 77 | 78 | 79 | 80 | 81 | 82 | 83 | 84 | 85 | 86 | 87 | 88 | 89 | 90 | 91 | 92 | 93 | 94 | 95 | 96 | 97 | 98 | 99 | 100 | 101 | 102 | 103 | 104 | 105 | 106 | 107 | 108 | 109 | 110 | 111 | 112 | 113 | 114 | 115 | 116 | 117 | 118 | 119 | 120 | 121 | 122 | 123 | 124 | 125 | 126 | 127 | 128 | 129 | 130 | 131 | 132 | 133 | 134 | 135 | 136 | 137 | 138 | 139 | 140 | 141 | 142 | 143 | 144 | 145 | 146 | 147 | 148 | 149 | 150 | 151 | 152 | 153 | 154 | 155 | 156 | 157 | 158 | 159 | 160 | 161 | 162 | 163 | 164 | 165 | 166 | 167 | 168 | 169 | 170 | 171 | 172 | 173 | 174 | 175 | 176 | 177 | 178 | 179 | 180 | 181 | 182 | 183 | 184 | 185 | 186 | 187 | 188 | 189 | 190 | 191 | 192 | 193 | 194 | 195 | 196 | 197 | 198 | 199 | 200 | 201 | 202 | 203 | 204 | 205 | 206 | 207 | 208 | 209 | 210 | 211 | 212 | 213 | 214 | 215 | 216 | 217 | 218 | 219 | 220 | 221 | 222 | 223 | 224 | 225 | 226 | 227 | 228 | 229 | 230 | 231 | 232 | 233 | 234 | 235 | 236 | 237 | 238 | 239 | 240 | 241 | 242 | 243 | 244 | 245 | 246 | 247 | 248 | 249 | 250 | 251 | 252 | 253 | 254 | 255 | 256 | 257 | 258 | 259 | 260 | 261 | 262 | 263 | 264 | 265 | 266 | 267 | 268 | 269 | 270 | 271 | 272 | 273 | 274 | 275 | 276 | 277 | 278 | 279 | 280 | 281 | 282 | 283 | 284 | 285 | 286 | 287 | 288 | 289 | 290 | 291 | 292 | 293 | 294 | 295 | 296 | 297 | 298 | 299 | 300 | 301 | 302 | 303 | 304 | 305 | 306 | 307 | 308 | 309 | 310 | 311 | 312 | 313 | 314 | 315 | 316 | 317 | 318 | 319 | 320 | 321 | 322 | 323 | 324 | 325 | 326 | 327 | 328 | 329 | 330 | 331 | 332 | 333 | 334 | 335 | 336 | 337 | 338 | 339 | 340 | 341 | 342 | 343 | 344 | 345 | 346 | 347 | 348 | 349 | 350 | 351 | 352 | 353 | 354 | 355 | 356 | 357 | 358 | 359 | 360 | 361 | 362 | 363 | 364 | 365 | 366 | 367 | 368 | 369 | 370 | 371 | 372 | 373 | 374 | 375 | 376 | 377 | 378 | 379 | 380 | 381 | 382 | 383 | 384 | 385 | 386 | 387 | 388 | 389 | 390 | 391 | 392 | 393 | 394 | 395 | 396 | 397 | 398 | 399 | 400 | 401 | 402 | 403 | 404 | 405 | 406 | 407 | 408 | 409 | 410 | 411 | 412 | 413 | 414 | 415 | 416 | 417 | 418 | 419 | 420 | 421 | 422 | 423 | 424 | 425 | 426 | 427 | 428 | 429 | 430 | 431 | 432 | 433 | 434 | 435 | 436 | 437 | 438 | 439 | 440 | 441 | 442 | 443 | 444 | 445 | 446 | 447 | 448 | 449 | 450 | 451 | 452 | 453 | 454 | 455 | 456 | 457 | 458 | 459 | 460 | 461 | 462 | 463 | 464 | 465 | 466 | 467 | 468 | 469 | 470 | 471 | 472 | 473 | 474 | 475 | 476 | 477 | 478 | 479 | 480 | 481 | 482 | 483 | 484 | 485 | 486 | 487 | 488 | 489 | 490 | 491 | 492 | 493 | 494 | 495 | 496 | 497 | 498 | 499 | 500 | 501 | 502 | 503 | 504 | 505 | 506 | 507 | 508 | 509 | 510 | 511 | 512 | 513 | 514 | 515 | 516 | 517 | 518 | 519 | 520 | 521 | 522 | 523 | 524 | 525 | 526 | 527 | 528 | 529 | 530 | 531 | 532 | 533 | 534 | 535 | 536 | 537 | 538 | 539 | 540 | 541 | 542 | 543 | 544 | 545 | 546 | 547 | 548 | 549 | 550 | 551 | 552 | 553 | 554 | 555 | 556 | 557 | 558 | 559 | 560 | 561 | 562 | 563 | 564 | 565 | 566 | 567 | 568 | 569 | 570 | 571 | 572 | 573 | 574 | 575 | 576 | 577 | 578 | 579 | 580 | 581 | 582 | 583 | 584 | 585 | 586 | 587 | 588 | 589 | | Next >> |